Outline planning for the 11 hectares site on land at Wallaceneuk Farm was approved by Scottish Borders Council subject to conditions last May.

Now Melrose-based building firm Rural Renaissance has moved things forward once again by submitting an application for the approval of those conditions.

Under the plans created by Galashiels-based Camerons Architects, the semi-detached and terraced houses will be built over four phases.

The open field will be connected to Jedburgh Road and the town bypass to facilitate access with the masterplan itself following the principles laid down in ‘Designing Streets’. This will plug the estate into an existing network of footpaths around a central green.

Approving the outline planning application last year, the council’s chief planning officer Ian Aikman said that the side had been previously identified as being suitable for housing development and that “there have been no substantive objections either to the proposed allocations through the local plan process, or to the planning application itself”.

The masterplan will be considered by Scottish Borders Council in the coming weeks.